*** 350 BC ***The Greek mathematician, Archytas of Tarentum builds a mechanical bird dubbed "the Pigeon" that is propelled by steam. It serves as one of histories earliest studies of flight, not to mention probably the first model airplane.
Link: http://robotics.megagiant.com/history.html

11th Jan, 0427

Plato's Writings

*** 427 BC *** In some of his writings, Plato expresses ideas, several millennia before the advent off the computer that are relevant to modern dilemmas regarding human thought and its relation to the mechanics of the machine.
Link: http://www.thocp.net/reference/robotics/robotics.html

Leonardo di Vinci created a mechanical device that looked like an armored knight. It was designed to look like a real man was inside the armor. It amused royalty.
Link: http://robotics.megagiant.com/history.html

Joseph Jacquard built an automated loom that is controlled with punched cards to sew materials togther and make paper documents. These cards roll through a reader to produce the end result.
Link: http://robotics.megagiant.com/history.html

Metropolis was released by Fritz Lang. "Maria" was shown on screen and she was the first robot to be shown on screen. This movie was released in German, and was many people's first exposure to a "robot".
Link: http://robotics.megagiant.com/history.html

9th Jun, 1955

The Logic Theorist

Alan Newell and Herbert Simon create the Logic Theorist, the first "expert system". The expert system computer program was used to help solve difficult math problems that otherwise couldnt be solved with what they had.
Link: http://robotics.megagiant.com/history.html

Takeo Kanade builds the direct drive arm. It is the first to have motors installed directly into the joints of the arm. This change makes robot arms faster and much more accurate than previous ones.
Link: http://robotics.megagiant.com/history.html

The United States Department of Defense predicts that by the year 2035, the United State military will have its first completely automated robot soldier to fight in warzones replacing live people.
Link: http://science.howstuffworks.com/robot-armies.htm